Muskie seniors lead young team to second place finish (2024)

MUSCATINE, Iowa— Rayce Miller and Ryan Solt knew what they had to do Friday at Geneva Golf and Country Club.

They are two of three golfers on the Muscatine High School boys golf team who have any varsity experience. Both have played at least two years of varsity golf and played in the state tournament last October.

With that kind of experience, it is of little surprise that Muscatine coach Tom Randleman has put the onus on his senior co-captains to consistently put up low numbers and be the team’s pillars.

They got off to a good start at the Muscatine Invitational.

Miller shot a 73 and Solt added a 74 to help the Muskies to a second place finish in a 12-team field that included the entire Mississippi Athletic Conference as well as Iowa City West and Iowa City High.

Knowing all that is expected of them, both players felt like they got the season off to a good start Friday – in many respects.

“I’m pretty happy with the day, and I’m happy that we were able to come out and set a good example for the young kids,” Solt said. “[I left] a few shots here or there but it’s kind of good to see us even when we do bad, we’ll not bad, but even when we leave a few out there, we’re still happy with our scores and still moving forward.”

All things considered, the Muscatine Invitational turned out to be a fruitful morning and afternoon of golf for the Muskies.

Miller came out, despite feeling like he hadn’t prepared himself as well as he would have liked over the summer, and was the team’s low man. His 2-over-par 73 was the third best individual score.

Pleasant Valley’s Erron Vandeman shot an even-par 71 for medalist honors. Bettendorf’s Mitch Elken shot a 1-over-par 72 for second place.

“Today, I just shot a very solid round,” Miller said. “[I had] three bogeys and a birdie so I played [good] overall. No really bad shots so [I’m] not really complaining about that.”

Solt’s 3-over-par 74 was the fourth-best overall score, even if he was a little disappointed with how he finished. He was 2-under par heading to the 15th but felt he played too conservatively over the final four holes.

“The first meet of the year, I’m not really gonna complain,” Solt said. “At the beginning of the day [if] you told me [I would have shot a] 74, I would have taken it.”

As happy as both players were to have put together strong individual scores against tough competition, they may have been even more pleased about the Muskies’ second place finish.

The other four Muskie golfers, all less experienced than the senior duo, did their part by putting together solid rounds, especially considering for three of them this was their first taste of varsity golf.

Junior Jaden Carey, who played varsity last season and competed at the state tournament, too, shot an 80. Sophom*ore Hunter Petersen was the final Muskie scorer. He carded an 86 in his first varsity action.

Varsity newcomers Tyler Koch, a senior, shot an 88 and Peter Hutton, a sophom*ore, shot a 93.

“We’re only gonna get better,” Solt said. “We got a couple young guys. For their first meet, I think that’s pretty good.”

When Randleman's team went out on the course around 9 a.m. Friday morning, the first-year Muskies coach figured he had two pretty good seniors to lean on and a junior who played well last season at state but really wasn’t sure what else to expect.

A few hours later, Randleman could barely hide his excitement when talking about their play Friday.

“I’m ecstatic,” he said. “It’s kind of nice to come out here and know we’re competing with some really, really, you know, good teams. To come out second place, I’m very pleased.”

The cherry on top, if you will, was that the Muskies showed the rest of the MAC that even with all their youth they’ll still have to be reckoned with.

“It didn’t go unnoticed,” Randleman said, “that’s for sure.”